This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

University City Students Test Their Knowledge at Equations Tournament

U City students join hundreds of other students from the St. Louis area for an equations tournament.

For Rowan Hoel there is a direct relation between learning math and watching television.

Hoel, a fourth grader at , said she prepared for the 14th annual U-City Open Equations Tournament held this past Saturday at the high school by staying up late and watching television.  Hoel said as she watched TV she did math work in her head, like trying to figure out the overall cost of the different shows.

“I want to know how much money they spent to make the show because I have to figure out how much the set cost and how much the actors get paid,” Hoel said.

Find out what's happening in University Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hoel and more than 300 grade school students from all over the St. Louis area showcased their math skills and abilities at the tournament Saturday.  The event is set up by U City PTO members, and Edward Jones provides all the computer equipment needed to keep track of scores. About fourteen different schools took part including, Nipher Middle, Christ the King, Flynn Park, Jackson Park, and Tillman Elementary.

During the tournament participants were divided randomly between 66 tables to play four, 20 minute rounds. The young mathematicians competed against each other to generate as many points as possible for their individual team. In each round, the students only competed against students from their age level. 

Find out what's happening in University Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As the rounds started, one student would establish a goal for the whole table to solve. For example, one player might throw the number 23 on the table and each student has to figure out as many equations as possible that would equal the designated goal, said tournament coordinator Judy Maffitt.               

Before the start of the tournament, between rounds, and during the cookie break, the students raced around the gymnasium sputtering with energy and enthusiasm. As soon as the timer flipped over and the challenges were called, the noise level diminished substantially and it was all business as the students pondered possible equations and sought challenges.

As the students worked, they used different methods for keeping the work secret such as folding the paper or keeping their arms in front of their work so no one could peek. Hidden under those sheets of paper are their unique problem solving skills. 

The students do not know ahead of time what the goal is going to be, so being prepared for any problem with varying levels of difficulty is necessary. For young problem solvers like Connors Sheehan, a third grader at Jackson Park, this can cause a little anxiety.

Even though Sheehan's favorite subject in school is Math, he said he got nervous during the tournament because he didn't know what was going to happen. Nonetheless, he has adapted a mature approach to handling the anxiety that accompanies the game. “I try to use my math skills and if I get it wrong I get it wrong,” Sheehan said. 

Some of the volunteer coaches have established ways of dealing with this tournament time anxiety. Greg Zink Duda, a volunteer coach for Christ the King, said a lot of the third-graders are nervous coming into the program. He tries to alleviate the anxiety by grouping the youngsters with the veteran seventh and eighth graders. 

“We try to spend time with them making sure they understand everything and that they know the rules. And just try to convince them that they are going to be fine and just have a good time,” Zink Duda said.  

The guidelines for generating points are a little complex. At each table is a scoring sheet, dice with numbers and symbols, scratch paper, and a laminated sheet with three categories: forbidden, permitted, and required. After the goal is set, each student takes a turn putting one of the dice in one of the three categories. For example, if a student places a dice numbered 5 in the forbidden category, than students cannot use the number 5 to solve the equation. As the games progress, the difficulty level increases.

“Everyone on the table is playing from those cubes so the pot keeps dwindling as those cubes get put on the board they have fewer and fewer cubes to choose from,” said Maffitt. 

Hearing one explain the guidelines for points is confusing even for an adult, but according to Christ the King's coach getting down and actually playing the game helps make the game more understandable.

“I get new coaches each year,” Zink Duda said. “It's very difficult to explain, but once they sit down and play, it makes a lot more sense.”

As coach of the Team Three Cheese and the Awesome Math Manipulators from Flynn Park elementary, Caroline Holke said she and her team both learned the game together. She said they met once a week for the past six weeks learning the game and discussing new strategies.

Zink Duda said since it takes around eight weeks before the students to understand all the rules, coaches give the information to the students a piece at a time. He said they play just one particular aspect of the game each week, until they get the whole thing.

“They constantly surprise me.” Holke said.  “Like they will come up with equations that I have never seen before. I am constantly pleasantly surprised to see how their little brains are working.”

Flynn Park student Noah Hardy won an individual award at this year's tournament. But Zink Duda's methodical approach to training obviously paid dividends as 6 CKS students walked away with individual awards and the top three teams in the 6-8th grade category were all Christ the King based teams. Kenard Classical Junior academy came away with eight individual awards and five team awards.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from University City